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The Wizard of Oz (1939)
[http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0032138/ The Wizard of Oz]' (1939)' Directors: Victor Fleming, King Vidor, George Cukor, Norman Taurog Plot Dorothy Gale is swept away from a farm in Kansas to a magical land of Oz in a tornado and embarks on a quest with her new friends to see the Wizard who can help her return home in Kansas and help her friends as well. Male Deaths * None Female Deaths * Margaret Hamilton Almira Gulch/Wicked Witch of the West Gallery Untitledgggg''''.png|Margaret Hamilton Trivia # The only location footage in the entire film are the clouds over the opening titles. # According to lead Munchkin Jerry Maren, the "little people" on the set were paid $50 per week for a six-day work week, while Toto received $125 per week. # Many of The Wicked Witch of the West's scenes were either trimmed or deleted entirely, as Margaret Hamilton's performance was thought to be too frightening for audiences. # Judy Garland had to wear a painful corset-style device around her torso so that she would appear younger and flat-chested, as she was 16 years old at the time of filming, playing the role of a pre-adolescent child. # The Scarecrow face makeup that Ray Bolger wore consisted, in part, of a rubber prosthetic with a woven pattern to suggest burlap cloth. By the time the film was finished the prosthetic had left a pattern of lines on his face that took more than a year to vanish. # "Over the Rainbow" was nearly cut from the film; MGM felt that it made the Kansas sequence too long, as well as being too far over the heads of the children for whom it was intended. The studio also thought that it was degrading for Judy Garland to sing in a barnyard. A reprise of the song was cut: Dorothy sang it to remember Kansas while imprisoned in the Witch's castle. Garland began to cry, along with the crew, because the song was so sad. # When the wardrobe department was looking for a coat for Frank Morgan (Prof. Marvel / The Wizard), it decided it wanted one that looked like it had once been elegant but had since "gone to seed." They visited a second-hand store and purchased an entire rack of coats, from which Morgan, the head of the wardrobe department and director Victor Fleming chose one they felt gave off the perfect appearance of "shabby gentility." One day, while he was on set in the coat, Morgan idly turned out one of the pockets and discovered a label indicating that the coat had been made for L. Frank Baum. Mary Mayer, a unit publicist for the film, contacted the tailor and Baum's widow, who both verified that the coat had at one time been owned by the author of the original "Wizard of Oz" books. After the filming was completed, the coat was presented to Mrs. Baum. # The Munchkins are portrayed by The Singer Midgets, named not for their musical abilities but for Leo Singer, their manager. The troupe came from Europe, many of them were Jewish and a number of them took advantage of the trip to stay in the US in order to escape the Nazis. Professional singers dubbed most of their voices, as many of the Midgets couldn't speak English and/or sing well. Only two are heard speaking with their real-life voices--the ones who give Dorothy flowers after she has climbed into the carriage. # Dorothy's hair length changes from long to short due to a hairstylist cutting Judy Garland's hair. Category:Films Category:1939 Films Category:American Films Category:Films directed by Victor Fleming Category:Adventure Category:Family Category:Fantasy Category:Academy Award Nominees Category:Academy Award Winners Category:Satellite Award Winners Category:Satellite Award Nominees Category:Films based on L. Frank Baum stories Category:Films directed by King Vidor Category:Films directed by George Cukor Category:Films directed by Norman Taurog Category:IGN Summer Movie Award Nominees Category:Films based on novels Category:Rated G films Category:Comedy Category:Horror Category:Drama Category:Musical